Quote:
Originally Posted by gikard
Has anyone considered running the inverter off of the ~270 V high voltage traction battery instead of from 12V? Some solar power inverters may accept the traction battery voltage. What's its voltage range anyway?
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The one's I've read about used the NHW20, 04-09 Prius, and the 200V traction battery feeding a
modified 3kW, UPS inverter. I've exchanged e-mails with Richard and his is a serious project.
I've seen excellent progress with the solar panel inverters but the last time I checked, they were still fairly expensive, several thousand dollars for 3kW inverters. There is a lot of work going on in this area and if I wanted a turn-key system, I would search harder. But price remains a problem and the too frequent use just for emergency power.
Anther interesting development has been in the inexpensive, 5-6kW, gas generators. One of my co-workers bought a Coleman unit for ~$350 which is impressive since in addition to the gas engine there is the power electronics. Of course they have the advantage of being able to switch the high-frequency alternator to synthesize 60 Hz. But again, these are being sold as dedicated, emergency power.
My current investigation is looking at the 33 kW, MG2 inverter that is water-cooled and already integrated in the car. When parked, MG1 can continue to provide power up to 18 kW and just needs a fuel supply, say natural gas. These are the NHW11, 2001-03 model Prius and can be bought for ~$5k. If done right, the Prius can plug-in to the house to generate power and later still deliver +50 MPG. Add hot water heating and possibly space heating, we're talking a mobile, co-generator.
Bob Wilson